Overactive Celebrating

searching4?

I have found that since I was denied celebrating Holidays as a child, I am like a kid when it comes to celebrating. The Holidays are so magical to me, and I always celebrate in a big way for all of them. It's still new to me and I have so much fun with it. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but he doesn't understand. Do any of you do the same thing??

wanderlustguy

This will be my first...I'll let you know.

thom

I still can't seem to find the desire for celebration during holidays. I've never celebrated any in my life and I really don't know how. I'll try for my daughter, but for me at this point there is no real interest in it.

Sheepish

Absolutely! When you realize you are not worshipping the tree, and don't know anyone who does, the discovery begins. Contrary to what JWs told us, even other Christian denominations have different ideas about these holidays. I let the kids trick or treat when they were small, but as time wore on , I got less and less enthused with that particular holiday...but still, Christmas I am just like a little kid, and not just about presents.

Lilycurly

Of course! I love to make-up for every Christmas tree, carven pumpkin and birthday gifts I missed as a kid.:) The great thing is, I work at a daycare center, so I can do all those holiday drawings and craft projects I was denied with the kids there. I also make sure both my brothers (whom my dad is trying to endoctrinate) receive birthday and christmas presents and participate in any way possible in those fun days. They never refuse, so it's a good sign, and at least they won't be bitter about it when they grow up.

mrsjones5

Yep! I love Thanksgiving and Christmas!! I love everything about the holidays and often feel like a big kid about it. I get a kick out of the kids believing in Santa Claus, which irks my parents to no end.

blondie

You do find out that just because someone is not a JW doesn't mean they are necessarily enthusiastic about holidays. But at least you now have a choice.

misanthropic

Searching4- It's the same for me when it comes to Holidays and my birthday too. I especially love Christmas and putting up a tree and decorations. I always get excited when Christmas is close and the weather is colder...

My husband always makes everything extra special because he feels like I missed out on so much not doing any of it when I was a kid.

RunningMan

That's an interesting perspective on celebrating. Last year was the first time my family had Christmas. I was going to send a card to my sister (she's disfellowshipped) with a picture of me sitting in front of the Christmas tree in a dirty t-shirt, holding a beer, with the caption "baby's first Christmas" (I'm 44).

Anyway, although we enjoyed Christmas, I really couldn't get into it that much. I think maybe the childhood magic fades a bit when you're older and haved learned to live without it for so long.

luna2

I'm in a funny place with this stuff. As a child growing up, we had wonderful Christmases. It was magic and fun and all the relatives came over and I loved it. Then I married a man who had grown up in a dysfunctional family where his Christmases were marked by drunken family fights and getting practical gifts, like ties and socks, and being jealous of his younger half-sisters who got toys and good stuff. I felt a lot of pressure to try to make it a fun day for the kids with little input from him as well as a very tight budget to work with.

It also seemed that neither of our two families made any effort to make it easier for us as a young, struggling couple with a new baby...like suggesting that we should skip buying gifts for the adults in the family. I wish now that we'd have been sensible and just told them that we could not afford to celebrate in that way, but no, for years we bought stupid, cheap gifts for family that I know they didn't want and probably gave away or put in storage as soon as they could. What a stupid waste. We spent money we could ill afford on stuff nobody really wanted. Why???

Anyhow, by the time I became a JW in my late 20's, I was not all that unhappy not to have to go through this stuff any more. Its not that I wanted to deprive my kids of toys and fun....I even set up an alternate "celebration" where they got gifts, we decorated the house, and we had a special dinner...but it was such a relief not to have to worry about the rest of it.

Now I don't believe all the dub crap, but I also don't think Christmas is a holy holiday either. I like the idea that I can do whatever I want to and I absolutely refuse to feel an obligation to buy gifts that I can't afford. I'll probably send out some cards to family and friends, watch Christmas specials on tv without guilt, and put up a little tree just for fun, but big, crazy celebratory stuff is not on my agenda. LOL I'm free from ALL of the BS now and I can't tell you how glad I am about that.

Overactive Celebrating

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